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1. International Journal of Engineering Research and Development
e-ISSN: 2278-067X, p-ISSN: 2278-800X, www.ijerd.com
Volume 10, Issue 9 (September 2014), PP.74-79
Spot Welding between Stainless and Galvanised Steels with
Microstructural Analysis
Jyotishri Behera1, Ajit Kumar Pattanaik2, Surya Narayan Panda3
1M.Tech Scholar, CUTM, Bhubaneswar
2Asst.Professor, Mechanical Department, CUTM, Bhubaneswar
3Asst.Professor, Mechanical Department, CUTM, Bhubaneswar
Abstract:- In this paper, behaviour of dissimilar resistance spot welded joints of low carbon and Austenitic
stainless steels was studied under tensile-shear test with attention focused on the failure mode. The experimental
results show that in pullout failure mode, necking is initiated at nugget circumference and then the failure
propagates along the nugget circumference in the sheet to final fracture. Necking location was low carbon steel
side. Results showed that there is a critical fusion zone size to ensure pullout failure mode in shear tensile test,
which is mainly controlled by ratio of fusion zone hardness and failure location hardness. In the case of
dissimilar resistance spot welding, the hardness of the fusion zone which is governed by the dilution between
two base metals, and fusion zone size of low carbon steel side are dominant factors in determining the failure
mode of the joint.
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Keywords:- Nugget, microstructure, RSW
I. INTRODUCTION
The quality and mechanical behaviour of resistance spot welds (RSW) significantly affect durability
and crashworthiness of vehicle. Overload Failure mode of spot welds is a qualitative measure of the weld
reliability. Generally, the spot weld failure occurs in two modes: interfacial and pullout. In the interfacial mode,
failure occurs through nugget, while in the pullout mode, failure occurs by complete (or partial) nugget
withdrawal from one sheet. Load carrying capacity and energy absorption capability for those welds which fail
under the overload interfacial mode are less than those welds which fail under the overload pullout mode. To
ensure the reliability of the spot welds during vehicle lifetime, process parameters should be adjusted so that the
pull out failure mode is guaranteed [CHAO 2003, POURANVARI et al 2007].
Dissimilar resistance spot welding can be more complex than similar welding due to different thermal
cycle experienced with each metal. Despite of various application of dissimilar RSW, reports in the literature
dealing with mechanical behaviours of them are limited. The objective of this research is to investigate and
analyse failure behaviour of dissimilar resistance spot welds between low carbon steel and austenitic stainless
steel.
II. EXPRIMENTAL PROCEDURE
A 1.1 mm thick galvanized low carbon and 1.2 mm thick austenitic stainless steel sheets were used as
the base metals, in this research. The chemical composition of galvanized steel (GS) and stainless steel (SS) is
given in Table1. Spot welding was performed using a 120 kVA AC pedestal type resistance spot welding
machine, controlled by a PLC. Welding was conducted using a 45-deg truncated cone RWMA Class 2 electrode
with 7-mm face diameter.
The static tensile-shear test samples were prepared according to ANSI/AWS/SAE/D8.9-97 standard.
Fig.1 shows the sample dimensions. Tensile-shear tests were performed at a cross head of 2 mm/min with an
Instron universal testing machine. Peak load and failure energy (measured as the area under the load
displacement curve up to the peak load) were extracted from the load-displacement curve. Failure mode was
determined from the failed samples. The welding time, electrode pressure and electrode holding time were kept
constant at 4 bar, 12 and 30 cycles ((1 cycle=50 Hz), respectively. Welding current was in the range of 7 to 13
kA.
Table1. Chemical composition of test materials (%Wt)
Element C Mn P S Si Cr Ni Mo Cu Nb Fe
SS 0.035 1.08 0.038 0.004 0.388 18.47 9 0.561 0.462 0.016 Base
GS 0.065 0.404 0.018 0.017 0.095 0.017 0.032 0.004 0.053 0.001 Base

2. Spot Welding between Stainless and Galvanised Steels with Microstructural Analysis
Samples for metallographic examination were prepared using standard metallography procedure.
Optical microscopy was used to examine the microstructures and to measure physical weld attributes. After
complete separation in the tensile-shear test failure location of samples was examined with optical microscope
Microhardness test, a technique that has proven to be useful in quantifying microstructure-mechanical
property relationships, was used to determine the hardness profile in vertical (through thickness) and horizontal
directions (50 μm away from weld center line for galvanized steel side and stainless steel side), using a 100g
load on a Shimadzu microhardness tester.
Fig.1 Tensile-shear test sample dimension
III. RESULTS AND DISSCUSION
3-1-Microstructure and Hardness profile of the joint
Fig.3 shows a typical macrostructure of a dissimilar resistance spot weld between galvanized low
carbon steel and austenitic stainless steel. As can be seen, the joint region consists of three distinct structural
zones: i)
Fusion Zone (FZ) or weld nugget, ii) Heat Affected Zone (HAZ), and iii) Base Metal (BM).
Fig.2 Macrostructure of dissimilar RSW between galvanized steel and stainless steel
One of the important features of the weld nugget is its asymmetrical shape such that fusion zone size
(FZS) and penetration depth of stainless steel side are larger than those of galvanized steel side. Electrical
resistance and thermal conductance control heat generation and heat dissipation which in turn, affect weld
nugget formation and its growth. Differences in the thermal conductivity and electrical resistivity of two steel
sheets lead to an asymmetrical weld nugget in dissimilar metal joints. Lower electrical resistance of carbon
steels, which is even lower for low carbon galvanized steel sheet, and its higher thermal conductivity compared
to stainless steel leads to smaller fusion zone in the former.
HAZ in the galvanized steel side is wider than that in the stainless steel side, which can be related to
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higher thermal conductivity of galvanized steel.
Fig. 3 shows variation of physical weld attributes as a function of welding current. As can be seen, the
FZS of both stainless and galvanized steel sides increases with the welding current at a decreasing rate with the
exception of really high currents (more than 11 kA) which show a decrease in the FZS due to expulsion.

3. Spot Welding between Stainless and Galvanised Steels with Microstructural Analysis
Fig.3 Effect of welding current on the weld nugget growth: a) 8kA b) 9kA c) 10 kA d) 11kA
In this study two different types of hardness profile were observed as a function of welding current.
Effect of welding current on the average hardness of the fusion zone is shown in Fig.4.
Typical vertical hardness profile for spot welds made with IW>8kA is shown in Fig.5a. As it can be
seen, the hardness of the weld nugget is much higher than the hardness of both base metals. Higher hardness of
the weld nugget can be attributed to martensite formation in this zone. Microstructure of fusion zone of
dissimilar metal joint between low carbon and stainless steel can be predicted using constitution diagrams, e.g.,
Schaeffler diagram. It should be noted that the application of this diagram might be inaccurate due to very high
cooling rates of RSW process. The predicted microstructure of the weld nugget of a dissimilar joint between
galvanized and stainless steel using Schaeffler diagram is fully martensite (Fig.4), when volum fraction of
galvanized steel in weld nugget is 60%. It should be noted that changing of the welding current in this range (>8
kA) has no
Fig.4 Effect of welding current on the dillution, microstructure, average FZ hardness and
Failure mode of the dissimilar joint
Significant effect on the weld nugget hardness (See Fig.4). Welding current affect geometrical
characteristics of weld nugget e.g. FZS, and hence changes the dilution is (defined as galvanized to weld nugget
volume ratio) (Fig.4). However, as it can be seen from Schaeffler diagram (Fig.6) changing the dilution in 30%-
90% range has no effect on the predicted microstructure which can explain weak dependence of the weld nugget
hardness on the welding currents greater than 8kA.Different hardness profile for spot welds made with welding
currents of 7 and 8 kA was observed. Fig.5b shows the hardness profile of the spot welds made with 8kA
welding current which illustrates that the weld nugget hardness is much lower than that of the spot welds made
with IW>8kA.
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4. Spot Welding between Stainless and Galvanised Steels with Microstructural Analysis
Macro structural examination of spot welds made with 7kA and 8kA welding current showed that dilution is
about 10% and 16%, respectively. In both conditions Schaeffler diagram predicts an austenitic structure plus
some amount of ferrite and martensite which justifies lower hardness of the weld fusion zone in these cases.
a)
b)
Fig.5 Vertical hardness profile for spot welds made with welding current of a)11kA and b) 8kA
Fig.6 Schaeffler diagram, fusion zone microstructure prediction,
when weld nugget consists of 60% galvanized steel
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3-2-Failure Behaviour
The experimental results indicate that welding current has a significant effect on the load carrying
capacity and energy absorption capability of the spot welds under tensile-shear static test. As can be seen in
Fig.7 increasing welding current leads to increasing the peak load and failure energy of dissimilar joint primary
due to increasing FZS and fusion penetration depth. Two distinct failure modes were observed during static
tensile-shear testing: interfacial fracture and nugget pullout, as shown in Fig.8(a and b). In some cases, sheet
tearing was observed after nugget pullout (Fig. 8c). Effect of the welding current on the failure mode is shown

5. Spot Welding between Stainless and Galvanised Steels with Microstructural Analysis
in Fig.4. As can be seen in Fig.7, failure mode has a significant influence on the peak load and failure energy of
spot welds. Energy absorption capability is an important parameter in vehicle crashworthiness
Fig.7 Effect of welding current on the peak load and failure energy
Fig.8 (a) Interfacial failure mode, (b) pullout failure mode and c) nugget pullout followed by
Sheet tearing.
Fig.9 shows macrograph of fracture surface of a spot weld which failed at pullout mode indicating the
nugget is pulled out from galvanized steel. The failure of the spot weld appears to be initiated near the middle
of the nugget circumference in the GS sheet, and then propagated by necking/shear along the nugget
circumference in the GS sheet until the upper sheet is torn off. Since tensile strength and hardness of
galvanized sheet is lower than stainless steel sheet, the galvanized sheet experienced a severe necking leading to
the initiation of the failure in this point. Therefore, it is concluded that the spot weld strength in the pullout
failure mode is controlled by the strength and FZS of the galvanized steel side.
Failure mode of spot welds is dictated by FZS, sheet thickness and ratio of weld nugget hardness to
failure location hardness. During static tensile-shear test. Pouranvari et al. (POURANVARI et al. 2007)
proposed a simple analytical model to predict minimum FZS required to ensure pullout failure mode of spot
welds during the tensile-shear test. Critical FZS (dCr) was attributed to sheet thickness (t) and weld nugget to
failure location hardness ratio (HWN/HFL), as follows:
dCr = 8t
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6. Spot Welding between Stainless and Galvanised Steels with Microstructural Analysis
Accordingly, interfacial failure mode of the spot welds formed with welding current of 7 and 8 kA, can
be related to the lower hardness of the weld nugget which provides lower resistance to crack propagation, and its
small FZS which is experiencing much higher shear stress at the nugget interface during the tensile-shear test.
However, increase in welding current beyond 8 kA, increases FZS and HWN/HFL,which in turn, reduces
interfacial failure susceptibility.
Fig.9 Macrograph of fracture surface cross section, T: Subjected to tensile stress
C: Subjected to compressive stress
IV. CONCLUSIONS
From this research the following conclusions can be drawn:
1- For dissimilar RSW between low carbon galvanized steel and austenitic stainless steel asymmetric fusion
zone was obtained due to their different electrical resistivity and thermal conductivity.
2- Fusion zone size and failure mode are the most critical factors in the weld quality in terms of peak load and
energy absorption which is governed by the welding parameters such as welding current, welding time and
electrode force.
3- Spot weld strength in the pullout failure mode is controlled by the strength and fusion zone size of the
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galvanized steel side.
4- The hardness of the fusion zone which is governed by the dilution between two base metals, and fusion
zone size of galvanized carbon steel side govern failure mode.
5- For spot welds made at low welding currents, low fusion zone hardness and small fusion zone size led to
experiencing interfacial mode during shear-tensile test. While for spot welds made at high welding currents,
higher hardness of fusion zone due to martensite formation and larger fusion zone led to experiencing
pullout failure mode during tensile-shear test.
REFERENCES
[1]. AMERICAN WELDING SOCIETY, Recommended Practices for Test Methods and Evaluation the
Resistance Spot Welding Behaviour of Automotive Sheet Steels, ANSI/AWS/SAE D8.9-97.
[2]. CHAO Y J,2003, Failure mode of resistance spot welds: interfacial versus pullout, Sci. Technol. Weld.
Joining, 8, 133-137.
[3]. POURANVARI M., ASGARI H. R., MOSAVIZADEH S. M., MARAHI P. H, GOODARZI M.,2007,
Effect of weld nugget size on overload failure mode of resistance spot welds,
Sci.Technol.Weld.Joining, 12, 217-225.